Tell el-Balamun: A City of the Nile Delta of Egypt

Introduction

The archaeological site of Tell el-Balamun lies in the middle of
typical agricultural land of the Egyptian Delta, at Latitude 31 15
31N, 31 34 17E. The site consists of an area of undulating mounds,
over a kilometre in diameter, and rising to a maximum elevation of
almost 18 metres above the surrounding fields. It has been under
investigation by an expedition sponsored by the British Museum
since 1991. The only previous work was carried out by Howard Carter
in 1913 (MSS in Griffith Institute, Oxford) and Francis Ghattas
(Mansura University) in 1977-78.

The large and relatively intact mound is the site of the ancient
city of Smabehdet, known in the New Kingdom also as Paiuenamon,
with a temple enclosure on the south and high occupation mounds to
the north and west. The western mound is Roman with occupation down
to beginning of sixth century AD. The eastern mound is
dynastic, with surface material dating mostly from the fifth
and fourth centuries BC.

Temple foundations of Sheshonq III, Psamtik I and Nekhtnebef,
dated by foundation-deposits, have been identified, together with
enclosure walls of dynasties 26 and 30. Part of a Ramesside temple
enclosure-wall was found in 1998, cut by the tomb of Lower Egyptian
Vizier named Iken dating from 900 BC. Other tombs were found nearby
in an elite cemetery at the front of the Ramesside temple, to the
left of the axis.